Chapter 8 #3
‘The wood’s warped,’ he grumbled, heaving a shoulder onto the door.
It didn’t budge, and he cursed. ‘I might need your help.’ He shone the torch onto the step beside him.
‘If you stand here, we can push at the same time. Don’t worry,’ his voice gentled, ‘we’re not going to be trapped forever.
I’ve got my mobile, so I can call for help and there’s a decent signal. ’
On the other side of the door Cupcake barked. ‘Plus, we’ve got our very own four-legged friend who can fetch help if we need it.’
‘If he doesn’t get distracted by squirrels,’ Izzi muttered, going to stand beside Cameron and placing both palms flat onto the furrowed surface of the door.
‘You’ve got treats – he’ll be more invested in getting to those,’ Cameron said dryly. ‘After three, I need you to shove as hard as you can. Put all your weight into it,’ he instructed. ‘One, two, three—’
Izzi shoved the door as forcefully as she could and Cameron pushed too.
If she wasn’t so spooked, she might have admired his form, but as she rammed against it again, the whole thing suddenly shifted, opening so abruptly that she went flying forward, just missing Cupcake who managed to scamper out of the way.
Then she landed heavily hands-first on the ground.
‘Ough!’ she complained as the full force of the wooden floor jarred her body. She slowly shifted onto her hands and knees. ‘Ouch! My fingers!’
Cameron knelt as she moved – wincing when her knee complained too – so he could examine the injury. There were dozens of tiny splinters scattered across the fingers of her right hand, and a large splinter poked from her index finger.
‘That looks nasty,’ Cameron said, gently taking her wrist and turning it around.
He pulled his torch from his pocket before shining it onto her fingers.
‘Did you hurt anything else? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you to help.
I had no idea the wood would splinter so easily.
Your skin’s clearly much softer than mine. ’
‘What about you?’ Izzi asked, trying not to grimace as he hovered a fingertip over the large splinter that was making her hand throb.
‘I was using my shoulder to push,’ he admitted.
‘Can I?’ He indicated the splinter and she nodded, shifting into a more comfortable position.
If there had been a chair, she’d have sat on it, but there wasn’t and she didn’t want to stand, so she stayed where she was.
Cameron eased down until he was sitting beside her, and the edges of their hips bumped.
Izzi felt her insides quiver, and swallowed.
‘I’m going to try to ease this big one out,’ he said, nudging her shoulder. Cupcake whined but didn’t approach, although he did sniff at Izzi’s bag which she’d dropped when she’d fallen, proving Cameron’s point about the snacks.
‘No!’ he commanded, and the dog sat. Cameron carefully picked at the splinter, his large fingers surprisingly nimble. ‘This might hurt,’ he whispered, then suddenly tugged at the splinter, pulling it out.
‘Ouch,’ she said, immediately sucking her finger which was now throbbing. She could taste salt, which probably meant it was bleeding.
Cameron leaned back and watched her, his eyes heating as they fixed on her lips. She continued to draw her finger into her mouth and her stomach turned over slowly as their eyes met and she realised his pupils had blown and his eyes were shades darker than she’d ever seen them.
He cleared his throat and looked away, scratching his neck and drawing attention to the flicker of his pulse just under his ear. Was his heart racing like hers? Izzi stared at it until Cameron eased further away, breaking the connection.
‘I think we need to get you back to my house,’ he said without looking at her. ‘You need to clean up properly. The shower isn’t going to be good enough – you need a bath so you can soak your hands. It’ll get rid of the rest of the splinters, and I can use tweezers on anything that’s still there.’
Izzi removed her finger from her mouth. Her whole hand was stinging and her knees hurt and the idea of getting into a hot tub of water was appealing.
‘Okay,’ she said as Cameron stood and held out a hand.
She took it and let him help her up, feeling that same spark pulse between them, and a corresponding pull in the pit of her stomach as every inch of her body leaned towards him, like he was a planet and she was caught in his orbit.
This time, Cameron didn’t look at Izzi; instead, he let go of her hand and leaned down so he could pick up her bag.
Then he slung it over his shoulder and called Cupcake who immediately scampered to his heels.
‘Be careful on the way out,’ he rumbled before leading Izzi into the large sitting room towards the hall.
She followed, trying not to focus on Cameron’s solid form, or to wonder how it might feel to touch him for real.
Her whole body was on fire as she visualised herself stripping down in his bathroom and getting into his bath.
She wondered if he felt this same powerful pull, and exactly what she could do to extinguish it before she did something they’d probably both regret…